


The Little Things

by QueerCrusader



Series: The Expanse fics [2]
Category: The Expanse (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 23:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20317459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueerCrusader/pseuds/QueerCrusader
Summary: The crew has planned to meet up for some down-time together. As Alex and Amos take their time getting there, Alex reflects on his building relationship with Amos.





	The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> Here, have some more wholesome happy down-time for the _Roci_ crew! This fic is technically a sequel to [_Anwyn_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18145736), but it can pretty much be read as a stand-alone fic (which is especially nice if you want something without smut but just fluffy feelings. If you want fluff AND smut, I refer you to part 1).

“Hey.”

Alex looked up from the simulations he’d been running, and met Amos’ gaze. The engineer patiently waited for him to scramble to take off his headphones. A snippet of fiddle music could be heard from them before Alex managed to turn off the music, and Amos lightly raised an eyebrow.

“No banjos?”

Alex felt himself turn red. Ever since their holiday on Anwyn station, he’d been listening to some more Celtic folk music alongside his collection of Martian and Earth-American country. “Good memories,” he admitted. A hint of a smile tugged at Amos’ lips, and Alex felt his blush deepen.

“I bet,” the engineer replied before bursting into laughter and slapping Alex on the shoulder. “Stop squirming, brother. Come on. Let’s hit the station.” The touch lingered, turning into a gentle squeeze that Alex leaned into, his eyes closing for a second as he relished in the attention.

He and Amos were almost never truly intimate when on board the _Roci_. Sure, they hung out, they worked out together, they ate together, but nine times out of ten there were other crewmembers present, and it just didn’t feel appropriate. Bobby was Alex’ drill-sergeant in the gym, and the crew always had their meals together as a group, but Alex didn’t mind all the company too much. He’d actually expected Amos to come to his cabin after shifts to get a chance to be more privately intimate, but that had never happened. It turned out the engineer believed in a strict separation between work and his sex life, clinging to the phrase “I don’t shit where I eat”, which, well, wasn’t that the most delightful way of putting it. Alex had been pissed off the first time he’d been told that, but Amos had explained he just wanted to keep it off-ship. Instead, they got together whenever they were staying station-side. The blunt words had been more than made up for the next day when they had docked at Ganymede.

But whatever was between them, it wasn’t all sex either, Alex had come to realise. As he got up and grabbed his woollen hat and his coat to follow Amos, he felt his heart skip a beat. That first time they had sex had been like a flood that burst the dam. Amos was not one to hold back or be careful, but it turned out he had been completely refraining from getting closer to Alex because he had been convinced the emotions weren’t reciprocated. But the sex had been like permission. Now, whenever they docked the _Roci_ and hit the station’s streets, Amos was _all over him_. It wasn’t gross or clingy, or too much. It felt natural. Like breathing. Like they were meant to have been this from the start.

As they walked out of the station’s docks, Amos grabbed Alex’s hand. They chatted as they went, and every now and then Amos leaned in to mutter something under his breath in Alex’s ear. The pilot had tried to teach him subtlety and discretion, but he suspected Amos only did it to get in Alex’s space and see the blush creep across his bronze skin up close. Alex could feel Amos’ beard against his cheek, his throat. He could feel the rumble of the engineer’s laugh in his own chest, and he felt warm, callused skin where their fingers entwined. On board the ship they were crewmates, but station-side, they got to be more.

It was that casual intimacy that had started the day after Amos had fucked him through the mattress that told Alex that this meant something. Amos had been a rent boy. He knew how to do sex. He had probably even learned how to make it special. But when the attention had lasted, when Amos just wouldn’t stop touching Alex and had practically become a physical extension of him, it had short-circuited the pilot’s brain. He felt seen, he felt wanted in a way his wife had never quite managed. Amos wasn’t a talker, and half the time, he didn’t need to be. He didn’t ask what Alex wanted or needed. It wasn’t necessarily as if he instinctively _knew_ – Alex knew the engineer well enough by now to realise that Amos would always struggle with such nuances, and could probably benefit every now and then from having more of such conversations – but he just _gave_, and what he gave always happened to be exactly what Alex needed.

And that was how Alex knew. How he could tell that they worked, that it was as easy as breathing. Yes, there were plenty of times where they still bickered because Amos did and said things that he just didn’t seem to understand he shouldn’t. Trying to teach him these things seemed almost pointless sometimes, but Alex started to realise that it wasn’t so much as teaching Amos to understand these things for himself as to simply set an example and keep communicating things clearly. Though Amos might not understand moral and social nuances of his own accord most times, Alex found that he could stop breaking his head over trying to make Amos see sense. Instead, he found Amos _trust_ him, trust his judgment, run things by him sometimes or even just giving him a look that seemed to ask for permission. _Shall I shoot him? Can we go there? Can I kiss you here, now?_ That last one was less common – if Amos wanted to give attention or love, he usually would.

There were many things to learn about their enigmatic engineer, Alex found out over the time they started spending together. Firstly, though Amos seemed to make rash decisions that some would consider selfish, the man was surprisingly selfless. His view of life revolved around others – _those to follow and those to protect_. Alex somehow had fallen into both those categories.

Second – and this was in a way an extension of the first point – though Amos could be a violent brute who sometimes struggled to read social cues, he was surprisingly eager to please. He just didn’t always seem to know _how_. But that was something he _did_ learn over time, with Alex’s encouragement. He started to give the whole crew more compliments. He told jokes, and stories like he had on Anwyn when his old babysitter-slash-mentor had shown up. Anecdotes to entertain them all. He developed a knack for mockingly mimicking people. Fred Johnson was a frequent one, and he did an excellent impression of Anderson Dawes, but everyone’s favourite was Holden – who Amos usually mimicked behind his back when the captain was telling one of his stories again.

Third, as Amos opened up, they all started to learn about Amos’ past. Earth was a rough place to live, and Amos had spent time on the streets as well as in bars. He’d grown up quick, and he’d grown up hard. It had been survive or die, and he had fought his way to the top of the food chain for survival very early, becoming a mob boss by the age of fifteen. He was a man who had never quite learned how to just be a boy.

And fourth, that was where Alex came in. He remembered moments with his own son from times where he’d actually been a decent father, and he used what he had learned then to show Amos a different side to life. It wasn’t easy; he didn’t want to patronise Amos, or do something too childish, but sometimes, _sometimes_ he found just that perfect little thing that made Amos’ eyes widen, made the engineer’s face light up, made him laugh like he’d never known violence, death, or sorrow. All of this had brought Alex closer to Naomi as well, since he liked to collaborate with her to find things to make Amos happy. It had been her who had offered up the idea to take Amos dancing again. It had also been her idea to sign Amos up for a drag show. Holden had paled at the news, but Amos had burst into laughter upon hearing the news.

They were on their way now to a park. Most asteroids out here only had green spaces for the sake of oxygen and aesthetics for the rich district, but Pollux station had an actual little park with sports facilities. Holden, Bobby and Naomi had gone ahead, while Alex and Amos had promised they’d catch up. The two men treasured moments like this. They got plenty of time with the crew on board the _Roci_, but this quiet time to themselves was rare. So they paced themselves, Alex throwing his arm over Amos’ shoulder with a smile. They pointed out dumb shit like this guy’s horrible jacket or that woman’s strangely shrill voice (which Amos took great delight in mimicking, to the woman’s anger – not that she was inclined to retaliate in any way after seeing his sturdy Earther body and his bulging muscles). They even went into a shop or two so that Amos could stock up on materials for his drag show.

Alex loved watching Amos browse the shops. He laughed at the garish fabrics and too-small outfits, at the ridiculous accessories, and at the makeup smeared all over Amos’ face, hand and arm. He relished in seeing their mad dog turn into a puppy, and whenever he laughed and Amos looked at him with a look of utter joy at being the source of that, he felt weak in the knees.

“Hey,” he muttered when they left their third thrift store, “let’s go here.” He nodded to an alleyway, and Amos smirked. He took charge then, leading Alex through back alleys and around corners until even the pilot’s navigational instincts seemed confused. When they were truly and utterly alone, they came to a halt.

“Is this what you wanted?” Amos asked, clearly already knowing the answer. Alex huffed, crowding the slightly shorter man against the wall and pressing their lips together.

He loved when Amos let himself be manoeuvred like that; this brute of a man, who had done horrible things with his bare hands, but whose eyes glittered as Alex steered him like the _Roci_. It sent a shiver down his spine, reminding him of those few brief moments in military training where he felt capable and almost dangerous. But there was one feeling better than being able to manoeuvre Amos, and that was having Amos take charge.

“God, I’ve missed this,” he admitted breathlessly as Amos willingly opened up and let Alex practically attack his mouth. “Missed you.”

“Mmm,” Amos agreed as he gently had them switch places, make Alex lean up against the metal wall, let his mouth roam along Alex’s throat, draw gasps from the pilot as he made his way down and back up again, where he stole the woollen hat and put it on his own hat. “’s been fun,” he said.

“Yeah,” Alex replied, still breathless. “Pretty decent day.”

They spent the next ten minutes or so making out like horny teenagers, but Alex wasn’t that into semi-public sex, and so they didn’t take it any further. He just relished in the attention and love, relished in returning it too, and in drawing those same noises from Amos as he was making himself.

They eventually had to collect themselves. The rest of the crew was waiting for them at the park, getting ready to play a game of soccer. Amos was meant to umpire today, so they couldn’t delay too much. Alex smiled to himself. Though he relished moments like this, he also looked forward to the downtime with his crew. Bobby was a natural in several sports and athletics, but Holden made up for his more lacking skills in enthusiasm. Naomi was disgustingly competitive, and Alex downright terrible, which meant he usually umpired, but they tried to switch it up as much as possible. Besides, Amos blatantly enjoyed cheating as an umpire and giving Alex all the unfair advantages. He also did the same for Naomi sometimes though, which balanced things out a little.

_Yeah_, Alex thought to himself as the coin was tossed half an hour later and Amos winked at him from the sidelines. _Today is a pretty good day._ The joy really was in the little things.

He kicked the ball into his own goal not two minutes later.

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with the drag show thing literally as I wrote the words, and then realised I now absolutely have to write that. Don't worry, I will write it. I also have one or two other fics in mind to write for this pairing, so everyone thank the gods of inspiration who have struck me! But mostly, thank you awesome readers. This fandom was so incredibly, overwhelmingly kind in their responses to my previous fic. Thank you all so, _so_ much. You are those gods of inspiration. You have made me smile so much, and you have motivated and inspired me to write more. Let me know if there's anything else you want to see, either here or on [tumblr](https://queer-crusader.tumblr.com/) (heads up, I don't post much _Expanse_ content at all, but you're always welcome to chat to me!).


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